2006 Government in the Sunshine Act Report (PDF; 145 KB), Source: National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General
The NSF Authorization Act of 2002, which became effective in December 20o02, contained administrative amendments to the National Science Foundation Act Pertaining to Board meetings. . .
. . . This is the fourth annual audit of the Board’s [...]
Archive of entries posted on February 2007
2006 Government in the Sunshine Act Report
New CRS Report on DMCA Exemptions
CRS Report – The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Exemptions to the Prohibition on Circumvention
Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998, in part, to help copyright owners protect their exclusive rights against infringement facilitated by digital technologies, including the Internet. Section 1201 of the DMCA outlaws circumvention of any access control devices, such [...]
Which videos are protected? Lawmakers get a lesson
From News.com:
As the new Congress experiments with the wide world of blogging and video clips, members are learning the complexities of copyright law, much the way the casual YouTube user has learned that there are corporations out there that own Lost and can stop you from posting a favorite episode.
The introduction began awkwardly this month [...]
Open access: Reshaping rules of research
From the Toronto Star:
Last month, five leading European research institutions launched a petition that called on the European Commission to establish a new policy to require that all government-funded research be made available to the public shortly after publication.
That requirement – called an open access principle – would leverage widespread Internet connectivity with low-cost electronic [...]
SMU pressed to fight Bush’s secrecy
From the Dallas Morning News:
Archivists and historians are urging Southern Methodist University to reject the Bush presidential library unless the administration reverses an executive order that gives former presidents and their heirs the right to keep White House papers secret in perpetuity.
The article concludes with a concise description of the Presidential Records Act and how [...]
Government Secrecy vs. Freedom of the Press
From the First Amendment Center:
If a line is to be drawn, where and why should it be drawn? That basic question was put to a group of scholars, lawyers and journalists in a workshop held at the First Amendment Center on July 20, 2006. The participants in that five-hour workshop, which focused primarily on the [...]
Publishers launch Brussels Declaration
From the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers:
On 13 February 2007, a group of 35 major publishers and 8 publishing trade associations has issued a joint declaration laying out ten principles through which scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishing can continue working for the benefit of science and society.
FOI Day 2007
From the First Amendment Center:
The 2007 National FOI Day Conference will be held as usual this year on March 16. . .
. . . The conference brings together access advocates, government officials, lawyers, librarians, journalists, educators and others to discuss the latest issues and developments in access to government information and the public’s right to [...]
Information, Please – Watchdog Groups, Some Lawmakers Say Congressional Reports Should Be Made Public
From the Washington Post:
Deep inside the Library of Congress, 500 researchers pound out the secret intelligence Congress uses to make law.
Legislators request 6,000 Congressional Research Service reports a year, on weapons systems and farm subsidies, prescription prices and energy use. Together, they offer what lobbyists and industry want most: clues to what’s next on the [...]
Egyptian court sentences blogger to 4 years in prison
From the Mercury News:
An Egyptian blogger was convicted Thursday and sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egypt’s president, sending a chill through fellow Internet writers who fear a government crackdown.